What can be done to improve a family of products while reducing both unit costs and the cost of tooling (non-recurring engineering & capital investment)? Here we discuss critical steps, planning options and design approaches needed to make the most of developing a family of products.

Sometimes even incremental increases in production volume can open up opportunities for cost reductions. The following example shows how creative thinking and a hard look at what your customers value can drive down the cost of goods (COGS) with only a minimal increase in production volumes.

Sometimes we get too focused on a specific challenging problem to solve, and lose sight of the other elements of the product that need to be addressed to be successful. For example, we could be so intensely focused on bringing a new innovative mechanism to market, that we forget to make sure that this new innovation is cost-effective as well as functionally excellent. A clever solution that people can’t afford is not a balanced design. It is only a partial solution. Conversely, we could be so intent on keeping the development and cost of goods (COGS) down, that we ignore key product features that will make it competitive.